Equity benchmarks fell on Wednesday, stalling a two-day winning streak that followed a sea of red in Asian stock markets after a deep sell-off in Wall Street stocks as investors braced for the US Federal Reserve’s aggressive rate hike later in the month. day.
The 30-share BSE Sensex index fell more than 200 points, and the broader NSE Nifty-50 index opened in the red.
Shares in Asia fell after stocks fell on Wall Street, pushing the S&P 500 down more than 1 percent overnight, even as futures opened slightly higher on Wednesday.
The risk of a sharp rate hike by the Fed had markets on the brink, with an 81 percent chance of another 75 basis point gain and a 19 percent chance of a full percentage point gain.
Markets are “seemingly well positioned for a 75 basis point increase alongside an aggressive update” from the Fed, Taylor Nugent, a market economist at the National Australia Bank in Sydney, wrote in a client note.
“Post-meeting comments and updated points will be critical,” said Mr Nugent, adding that the NAB was looking for a key rate of “around 4 percent” by the end of this year with no expected rate cuts. until 2024.